Beef Back Ribs and Country Style Lamb "Ribs" - 5/16/11

Some might call it cheating ... I like to call it creativity.

I started with about 2 1/2 pounds of beef back ribs, cut into pieces (not beef short ribs) and about 2 pounds of shoulder lamb chops.

As I wrote in today's blog post, I wore out before I could whip up the two separate sauces I had planned on for the beef and lamb.  So I took out a bottle of Sticky Fingers Carolina Classic and a bottle of Sticky Fingers Carolina Sweet, put the lamb and about half a bottle of the Classic in one ziploc bag, and about half a bottle of the Sweet with the beef ribs in another bag, and let them marinate at room temperature for about an hour.  Then I preheated the oven to 450 degrees, and placed a rack on each of two metal baking dishes.  On one rack I put the beef ribs, bone side down, on the other I placed the lamb.  Here's the deal with the lamb - I have yet to find lamb ribs or riblets in any supermarket of my acquaintance, so I bought two packages of shoulder lamb chops - total of four chops - with the long bones, rather than the round bone.

Next time you buy a package of  lamb chops, take a moment to really look at them.  Remind you of anything?  Like a bone-in chuck steak?  Well, like the chuck steak, the lamb chop has some natural dividing points, and all I did was separate each chop into two pieces.  One piece had the bone on the edge, the other had a bone running down the center.  Voila!  Country style lamb "ribs"!

If there is any of the sauce left in the bag, pour it carefully on the ribs it belongs to.  Discard any of the sauce you do not use.  Place the two pans in the oven, and set the timer for 20 minutes.  At the end of twenty minutes, lower the heat to 350 degrees.  Leave the beef back ribs as the are, but turn the lamb over, basting the tops with any sauce that dripped down into the pan.  Return the lamb to the oven, and continue cooking for another 30 minutes, or until the meats are tender and the sauces are glazed.